A New “Secret
Weapon” for BassSecret Weapon expands
their arsenal with more products this season, the common theme behind all these
new lures is the ability to customize the lures on the fly, giving anglers
increased freedom to target bass in a wider variety of applications.

Jackall Brings Prototype Lures to the
United StatesJackall has brought over
many new and exciting new products from Japan over the past few years. Normally they
would only showcase the baits that they are confirmed to introduce domestically but this year
they showcased a few prototypes that just had to be previewed.

The Rod Guard "Use It or Lose It"The Rod Guard is a simple yet
clever solution to a common problem, losing your rod and reel to the bottom of
the lake. This patented accessory is designed to be quick and easy to install
and create enough buoyancy to keep your precious gear afloat should it get
knocked over the edge of a boat or dock.

Basstar introduces SpinTech Treble hooks
Earlier this year we took a look at Basstar's first lure
offering, the Proprunner. This bait came loaded with a rotating hook design and
the company now introduces their new series of SpinTech treble hooks based on
the same spinning hook concept.

Qualia
reels are built to a standard, not a price point
Qualia aims to become a leader in value when it comes to delivering reels that
are built to a standard, not a price point. For the coming season Qualia
continues their efforts at providing modest product lines that offer a higher
level of value per dollar within each fishing category.

Reaction Strike's Revolution Shad now Suspends
Reaction Strike builds upon their already very robust lineup of Revolution Shad
lures with the introduction of a new suspending model which is designed to give
anglers a new weapon in their swimbait arsenal.

Strike Pro’s new
Flex Crawfish hardbaitThere is just something
instantly identifiable about Strike Pro lure designs, the company has a flair
for bringing mechanical engineering and artistry together into one fishable
package. This year they build upon their “flex” series of lures by cleverly
incorporating the design into a crawfish pattern.

"Gotta Have Pink" with FisherGirlLooking to get more girls excited about the sport
FisherGirl has expanded their offering to include a more comprehensive line of
reels and rods as well as introduces a new line of apparel making it easier than
ever for girls to gear up and hit the water.

MegaStrike gets innovative with their new lures
MegaStrike is best known for there popular fish attractant
which bears the same name as the company itself but over the last eight years has built a
name for themselves as an innovator of sorts when it comes to jigheads and
lures.

Big fish on Small Reels courtesy of Accurate
When it comes to saltwater tackle there are few American
reel companies as respected as Accurate when it comes to quality in design and
manufacturing. This ICAST the company introduced a number of new reels and rods
designed for landing big fish on lighter tackle.

The detail is in the design of Gamakatsu's new
hooks
Gamakatsu's hook catalog is massive, and when it comes to
delivering a hook for every application they have it down to a science. This
year at ICAST Gamakatsu introduced new hooks that not only address even more
niche applications but make it easier to rig terminal tackle as well.

Falcon BuCoo Rods offer "A Lot" for very Little
The Falcon BuCoo rods were actually released for sale prior
to the show, but ICAST represents the official launch for these aggressively
priced rods. The BuCoo rods are Falcon's new aggressively priced mainstream line
based on the company's own made in the USA blanks.

The Boomerang Tool will come back to you
Once in a while you see a tool and think "that's a good idea, why didn't I think
of that." In the case of Boomerang Tool Company the two owners made that idea a
reality with their patented retractable multi-use pliers which is designed to
end the frustration of dropping pliers

The Big and Small Happenings with Spro for 2010It seems all the manufacturers brought out their top stars to help introduce new product this year at ICAST 2009 and Spro was no exception. On hand were Dean Rojas, John Crews, Mike McClelland, and of course, our friend Bill Siemental.

A Show Within a Show, the Optimum Booth at ICAST 2009Walking into the Optimum booth at ICAST is like entering a micro-cosm
of the show in its entirety. Not only is Optimum busy expanding and enhancing
their own branded products, but they've built an impressive resume of quality
products from overseas into the Optimum umbrella.

Skeet worked closely with the team at W&M to
define rods for specific techniques with an emphasis on sensitivity, power, and
value.

Skinny Bear Travels Across the Country to Attend ICAST 2009Ever since our introduction to the Skinny Bear product during our May 2008 Jig Week article, “Are You Ready For Some Football!! … Jigs?”, we’ve been keeping an eye on this
fast growing bait company out of Southern California. Imagine our surprise when we stumbled upon their booth at ICAST 2009 all the way in Florida!

A Trio of Ultra Premium, Ultra Enthusiast Productsimagine our surprise upon walking past a booth
that housed Uoya Company. At quick glance, we could see what looked to be JDM baits, and the unmistakable Studio Oceanmark aftermarket reel parts! Upon closer inspection, we came to see those baits were from JDM stalwarts Gan Craft and Fish Arrow while the aftermarket parts were indeed Studio Oceanmark.

Strike Tech releases reels with “Live Action Spools”It is always good to see
innovation at ICAST, and novel ideas come in many different forms. With Strike
Technology this innovation comes in the form of a new reel that features a “Live
Action Spool” to create lure action beyond just a straight retrieve.

Snag Proof Introduces Ish's Phat FrogThe first thing Ish Monroe asked us when we caught up with him at the Snag Proof Booth was, “where’s Ms. Casey?”. To say he is a fan would be an understatement, but what excites bass pro more than the potential of meeting one of the TT Girls is talking about his new bait. What might that bait be you ask? Introducing Ish’s Phat Frog by Snag Proof.

Skippy Fish are made for exactly what their name impliesSeems everywhere we looked
at ICAST there was SkippyFiSH, a company run by Touring Pro Lou Consoli.
SkippyFiSH offers a line of fluke-like baits that are designed to be skipped
under docks or similar structure and get to areas where most other baits simply
cannot reach.

Damiki's Angel Blade Rods Are Finally HereLast year, new kid on the block Damiki stole the show for us as far as Enthusiast grade equipment was concerned. This year, Damiki’s presence at ICAST was much more understated and the company concentrating more on enhancing their bait offerings for 2010 more than anything else.

An Exclusive Sneak Peek at Abu Garcia's 2010 Release of...Jim tracked us down in the aisles of
ICAST wanting to share some very exciting news, but it wasn't until Day 3 we
were able to catch up with him. When we did, he immediately ushered us into the
back room where he announced we'd be the very first people outside of his
immediate Pure Fishing colleagues to see these prototypes...

Pflueger Goes Lefty, Lightweight, and a few RedesignsPflueger is stepping up
their game next season with the new and improved reels we've
been blogging about for weeks. This year at ICAST they are introduced a new lightweight
6.8 ounce Patriarch XT and they will finally have a lefty version of the
original Patriarch low profile casting reel.

A Pictorial look at the
ICAST 2009 Best of Show WinnersWith ICAST 2009 day two in
the books we take a second in between articles to take a pictorial look at the
“Best of Show” Winners in each category this year. This year, the 52nd year of
ICAST, the New Product Showcase, the tradeshow’s flagship event, was more
competitive than ever.

St. Croix Has Rods for Everyone Including the Ladies
With a full assortment of high performance rods, ranging
from affordable to premium, St. Croix still has it in them to release four new
models of rods and releases additional models in other popular series. One of
them is a higher end rod for lady anglers.

USA Custom Rods launches Mossy Oak Camouflage
rods at ICAST and Wins
Okuma may still be best known for their spinning and
saltwater reels but the company has been making great strides in baitcaster
releases in the recent seasons, and each new baitcaster has become smaller and
more refined. At this ICAST Okuma has new releases that can finally be called
"compact."

Black Dog Baits Extends Their Cracker Series and Introduces Mr. FlippyOne very notable difference at this year's ICAST is the lack of big bait manufacturers lining the aisles. Imagine our surprise then, when we met up with Grant Olguin of Black Dog Baits who was on hand to show us the production version of a bait he previewed with us back in May, the 4" billed Shellcracker, officially dubbed, "The Small Cracker".

Shimano's new Carbon based Stradic CI4 is a
WinnerShimano had a big presence at
the show and a bustling booth filled with buyers and media looking for
information about the company’s new offerings. Jeremy Sweet was on hand to walk
us through what he has been working on over the past year

American Rodsmiths Takes a Swing at a New Grip MaterialFishing and golf parallel each other in many ways from the design
and construction of rod blank and golf club shafts to the specialized
poles or clubs for each application or technique. In fact, it’s often said you
wouldn’t go golfing with just your putter, so why go fishing with just one rod?

Fin-Nor Plans to go Head-to-Head with the CompetitionIt simply cannot fail, this is the mentality that big
game anglers have when it comes to their tackle. Saltwater anglers have come to
rely on brands like Penn when it comes to reliable yet reasonably reels and
Fin-Nor wants to join that party with Fin-Nor's introduction of their new value
priced spinning and conventional reels.

Abu Garcia Upgrades the Revos and Introduces New Reels
When Abu Garcia first introduced their Revo series of low
profile reels the reception from consumers was phenomenal and the popularity of this series of reels continues to this day. One would think these already great reels make would make it tough for the team at Abu Garcia
to up their ante year after year but that is exactly what they manage to do...

As presented in
TackleTour’s preview a month ago, Quantum is poised to introduce a new line of
reels – dubbed their 150-sized reels – at ICAST this week. The design criteria
behind the development of these reels was to make a reel that had the same
profile as a 100 sized reel yet maintain the line capacity of a 200 sized reel.

A Hands on Preview
of the new Cumara “Reaction” series moving rodsWe kick of our ICAST
coverage with an exclusive look at Shimano’s new Cumara Reaction series of rods
which are specifically designed for fishing moving baits in varying types of
cover. These rods build off the existing line of contact rods and feature
similar cosmetics but with an action all their own.